Tim Cook’s mission of making tech to 'lift humanity' fills an important void left by Steve Jobs

When Steve Jobs was running Apple, he was famous
for delivering lofty and idealistic mission
statements that gave the tech company an aura of doing
something bigger than just creating gadgets.

One of the most famous was Jobs' 2011 declaration that Apple's
DNA was about "technology married with liberal arts,
married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make
our heart sing.”

Tim Cook, who took over for Jobs that same year, has been
outspoken on big policy and human rights
issues from privacy to workplace discrimination and gay
rights. But he hasn't articulated an over-arching mission or
philosophy, in the manner of Jobs, to tidily sum the company's
greater purpose.

That might have changed on Monday at Apple's annual developer
conference in San Francisco.

During his closing remarks, Cook delivered what may be the first
big update to Jobs' famous vision for the company:

"At Apple, we believe technology should lift humanity and
enrich people’s lives in all the ways people want to experience
it," Cook said.

Apple provides this enriching experience
"whether that’s on the wrist, in the living room, on the
desk, in the palm of their hand, in the car or even automating
their home," Cool continued, tying it into the company's 4 main
technology platforms.

Cook didn't elaborate, or flesh out his ideas, beyond that.
By Jobs' standards it was pretty short.

But the comments were notable, after a few years in which
the company has been
criticized for sticking to a very product-focused, almost
clinical mission statement.

Cook's remarks seem to reprise the aspirational words
of the late Jobs, insisting that Apple's purpose is not just to
create great technology, but to create technology
that improves people's lives.

You can watch the original Jobs speech on technology and
liberal arts below: